Credit Cards and Processing - Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum

**Nathan** · 07-23-2006, 03:07 PM

Some credit card questions for you:

Do you take credit cards for your business?
If so do you also take Amex and Discover Card?
Also, who do you use to process and what rates are you paying?
Do you charge extra to take credit cards?
What percentage of customers use Credit Cards to pay?

One thing that I will never do again is take Discover cards. They took forever to pay me and charged more than everyone else.

Woodsavers Of Texas · 07-23-2006, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nathan

Some credit card questions for you:

Do you take credit cards for your business?

No plastic taken here we only take money that folds.

Check,cash, money order... we don't want to influence the high credit debt of society.

PressurePros · 07-23-2006, 07:37 PM

I use PayPal's merchant gateway. Can accpet Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex and electronic check. Rate is 2.9%. Customer does not need a Paypal account. I know there are better rates but PayPal is linked through my shopping cart so it makes it easy.

**Nathan** · 07-23-2006, 07:53 PM

I use Paypal a lot for my online business but used Quickbooks for processing with my painting company.

I think I got a lot of jobs because I took credit cards and someone else didn't.

**Nathan** · 10-06-2006, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PressurePros

I use PayPal's merchant gateway. Can accpet Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex and electronic check. Rate is 2.9%. Customer does not need a Paypal account. I know there are better rates but PayPal is linked through my shopping cart so it makes it easy.

So, with the merchant gateway does a customer have to Paypal's website to pay or do they stay on your site?

PressurePros · 10-07-2006, 09:41 AM

They stay on my site. They do not have to have or sign up for a PayPal account unless they choose to.

**Nathan** · 10-07-2006, 10:53 PM

Then I'm going to have to look into that. I thought it always sent them to Paypals site to finish the order and never liked that myself.

**t.peterson** · 10-08-2006, 03:32 AM

We use Quickbooks credit card processing. Everything is done online.
I also have a paypal account for those who want to pay that way. So far I have been happy with both services. My fees are on the lower end of the scale when compared to other processing companies. I only started taking c.cards last year so most of my established customers do not utilize the service. I do insist that one time jobs be paid for with credit card now though and yes for those I do charge a little extra to cover the costs of the service.`

**Nathan** · 10-08-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.peterson

We use Quickbooks credit card processing. Everything is done online.

I used quickbooks for a while but that always required me or one of my guys to write down their credit card number and then run it back at the office (unless I'm not aware of new online feature?).
I'm interested in Paypal so I can do online invoicing and don't have to write down anyones credit card. There are a lot of people who don't like the idea of their credit card info being on file with someone.

Does quickbooks have an online option now? That would be great

**t.peterson** · 10-08-2006, 01:58 PM

Quickbooks works for me, as I am in the office and at my computer when I get the CC number. I believe that if you have a PDA that will access the web, you can also use that if you are in the field, I can check that out and get back to you

thompsonpw · 02-13-2007, 08:46 AM

Just joined the group today and found this thread very interesting.
There are PDA's that have credit card reader attachments. Essentially they store the information until it is downloaded at the end of the day. I have not done enough research yet to fully understand how the system works, but they are out there. You could probably get alot of information by contacting either your merchant account provider or your accounting software provider. Sorry I don't have any more information than this, but yes there are PDA's that can capture the card information and associate it to a specific invoice number or account number.
I will have to look back through my notes and get back to you with more details.

**t.peterson** · 02-13-2007, 12:00 PM

That is interesting, I will have to check that out. I have seen the card swipers what work with cell phones, those are available as well.

I have never had a problem with just simply using a credit card authorization form that I have clients fill out and sign when we are at the job, then later that day when I can access my computer I run the number and charge the card. The file is too big to post here, however if you are interested in getting a copy please pm me with your email address and I will send you one

BTW - I just found out recently that there are laws in California that prohibit merchants/vendors from charging higher fees to customers for credit card use. Be advised to check with your state as well before adding on any additional fees. Luckily I read the law before someone else said anything to me

Here is a link to the quickbooks credit card processing information for those interested - http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product...sing_kit.jhtml

bigchaz · 02-13-2007, 06:32 PM

I also will be using paypal
They have virtual terminal for 20/month plus 2.9% but you can take the credit card over the phone and type in in myself so the customer doesnt even have to go online

Also can send invoices for services through email and have them click to pay if they want

HBF · 02-19-2007, 10:09 AM

The Paypal thing is called Paypal Pro. It is fairly new. Your customer will never leave your site and will never know it is paypal. You can do virtual cards as well meaning no swiping. You just go to the site and enter all the information. It is much cheaper than the conventional way since it is a flat fee per month of only $20 and the interest rate is pretty good. I tried it out with my site, but it didn't work. It had a bunch of gliches and I had customers calling me everyday saying they got this error and that error. So, I switched back to my old one. You get what you pay for, but for your type of business, I think it would be worth a try.

Stacy
www.businessformsstore.com
Helping you start your own business!

**t.peterson** · 02-19-2007, 01:25 PM

Quickbooks recurring monthly fee is $14.95 +a small percentage of you actual activity (which is common of all credit processors)

kellz123 · 08-20-2007, 11:11 PM

I use a merchant account cardservicesales.com for all my credit card processing on my site and its worked out great. Paypal is good to but I rather use a merchant processor. I would search around on google.com and whitepages.com to find the perfect processor for your needs.

**t.peterson** · 08-20-2007, 11:54 PM

Welcome to cleaningtalk.com kellz123.

I quickly glanced at the site that you referred. I have one problem, why have a tab for "rates" then not offer any indication of your pricing until the viewer enters in all of their information? I steer clear of those types of operations with a passion.

PressurePros · 08-25-2007, 08:48 PM

And when the lovely TPeterson says "steer cleer" you are prudent to do so.

Hi T ! Long time, no see.

**t.peterson** · 08-25-2007, 11:15 PM

Hey Ken, good to see you too! Thanks for the compliment

gofrugal · 12-21-2007, 12:25 PM

Business point of view, I think its good idea to accept credit cards.
I am using best merchant rates by Chase, they have given me very good rate.